Sure, you want to get the thing done. You want to accomplish, to learn, ideally, to know how to do it–not just do it once, but do it again and again. But what if you knew why to do it? What it’s about and why it should be done? Maybe you don’t need the 479-page history on the subject, but if you knew why you were doing something, it can help both consciously and subconsciously to accomplish it.

Take any example: nutrition. The nutritionist tells you to eat broccoli. “Great, thanks!” you say, but you don’t really know what it’s all about or why it’s good for you. Sure, you could figure it out yourself, but if you got even a simple explanation from the expert, it would help you understand why to do it.